The Sages tell us that the total number of mitzvos are taryag, 613. Where does the number of 613 come from and what does it mean? If we look in the actual Torah, we can count more than 613? This is the reason for a huge argument between the commentators as to which ones are to be counted! What is clear is that there are most definitely many more than 613 mitzvos. The number 613 is like the “main” ones, but all the others most definitely are also mitzvos. The significance of 613 is that it is comprised of 248 positive commandments, paralleling the 248 limbs, and 365 negative commandments, paralleling the 365 days of the solar year. It is like the positive mitzvos are telling the person’s limb to constantly do mitzvos with the whole body while the negative mitzvos are saying each day of the year to the person not to sin!